- 7 minutes ago
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this week is five days of home-cooked meals. I sometimes find it
00:04very challenging to commit to making my meals from scratch, especially living in
00:09New York City where I have every single culture's cuisine at my disposal 24-7
00:14about two steps from my door. But getting delivery or takeout all the time can
00:18start to add up really quickly and when I truly think about it, I love cooking at
00:22home and knowing exactly what I'm putting in my food. So this week I'm
00:26taking on a task that many of you have requested on this series for years and
00:30years and I'm doing five days of home-cooked meals. Each day of this week is
00:34gonna focus on a different type of meal from a different food influencer or chef
00:38and everything is gonna be cooked by me right here in that kitchen of my brand
00:43new apartment. Now you may or may not know this from watching other videos of mine,
00:46but earlier this year Michael and I moved in to what I've dubbed our newlywed
00:51apartment. It's our first apartment that we're sharing as husband and wife. I
00:55already said this in my empty apartment tour video, but the kitchen has got to
00:58be my favorite room in this entire apartment.
01:03Everything is entirely new. All the appliances were just put in and they've
01:08never been touched. Something that I love about this kitchen is that the
01:12refrigerator and the dishwasher are sort of hidden appliances, so they just look
01:16like cabinets, but they're actually in there. And not only was this kitchen newly
01:21renovated and never lived in before we got here, but as soon as we moved in we
01:25had the kitchen professionally organized with a personal organization service, so
01:29everything is labeled and neatly put away. As you can see there are about three
01:34levels of cabinets here, and to reach the top I have to stand on a step stool. We
01:38made sure to put the items that we use every day lower down, then items that we
01:42use sometimes are in the middle shelves, and items that we use just for special
01:46occasions are up top. Immersion blender anyone? This is kind of a pop-up cutting
01:51board on wheels that we keep in the kitchen, and that's because there is some
01:55counter space to cut on, but we really like cutting this way facing the windows. It
02:00just makes the kitchen feel more open and bright, and we get the sunlight on our
02:04face, so our face. Are we one face? And now before I get too carried away with
02:10proclaiming my love for my kitchen, let's dive into the episode. Monday, Monday,
02:17Monday! I knew that I'd be focusing most of my meals this week on savory lunches
02:21and dinners, so I wanted to make sure that at least one day of this week was
02:25dedicated to my favorite meal of the day... breakfast. Although breakfast is my
02:30favorite meal of the day, I do often find myself skimping out on it. The moment I
02:34wake up, I feel like I just want to get started with my day. I don't think I have
02:38enough time to have this elaborate meal, so I usually just pop some toast in the
02:42toaster, maybe I'll make some eggs, and then if I feel like I have a little bit
02:46extra free time, perhaps I'll saute some vegetables from the night before. But long
02:50gone are the childhood days of sweet breakfast plates loaded with pancakes
02:55piled up and butter and maple syrup. When I thought about making a breakfast
02:59recipe for this video, the first person that came to my mind was Rachel Mansfield.
03:03She's a food blogger whose Instagram makes me drool every single time I open it. I
03:07think most, if not all, of her recipes are gluten-free and she's known for using
03:11really high-quality ingredients to make delicious food in a healthy way. On
03:15Monday, I made her gluten-free pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes, which are packed
03:19with protein for a power start to my day. I started by mixing all the wet
03:23ingredients in one bowl. The pumpkin, eggs, and the milk. Next, I mixed all the dry
03:32ingredients. Almond flour, protein powder, cinnamon, and baking soda, and whisked to
03:39combine. And I actually added in a little bit more chocolate chips than the recipe
03:43called for. You could never have too many chocolate chips in your life. I added some
03:48coconut oil to my skillet and then I heated it up a bit before pouring in the
03:52batter.
03:56I used my soft mixing spatula to flip the pancakes because the only other
04:01spatula we had on hand was a metal spatula and I didn't want to scrape up my
04:05nonstick pan. I made way more pancakes than I could ever possibly eat for one
04:09meal, so I had leftovers for at least the next day. But for breakfast on Monday, I
04:13piled high a plate with four large pancakes, added a pat of butter on top, and then
04:19poured maple syrup on top of the entire thing. I sat myself down at my kitchen
04:23table with a cup of coffee, the plate of pancakes, and the newspaper, and I soaked
04:28up the morning sunshine.
04:31Mmmmm. See what's going on in the world today.
04:37On Tuesday, I wanted my home-cooked meal to be a meal prep meal. I've already done
04:41five days of meal prepping and I thought it would be useful if one of these days was
04:45focused on making food that would last me for the rest of the week. I find that I
04:49gravitate towards different types of bowls when it comes to meal prep, and
04:52that's because they're really versatile and they're simple and perfect for busy
04:56days on the go. Alyssa Gagarin is the lovely meal prep expert that guided me
05:00through five days of meal prep, so I followed Alyssa's recipe for burrito
05:03bowls and I used her signature cauliflower rice recipe as the base. To start with, I
05:08riced the cauliflower in my blender, mixing it with a couple cloves of garlic,
05:13generously drizzled olive oil on top, and then seasoned it. After popping that into the
05:18oven to bake, I moved on to chopping up some peppers and prepping the other
05:22ingredients for my bowl. I threw the peppers in a pan and sauteed them in a
05:26bit of oil with some salt and pepper, and then once my peppers were tender and my
05:30cauliflower rice had cooked a little, I rinsed and drained some black beans,
05:34sliced a lime, and prepared to assemble my bowls. I portioned out the cauliflower
05:38rice, the sauteed peppers, black beans, and some pre-made pico de gallo. Then I
05:43garnished each with a lime and some cilantro on top. I ate one of these bowls for
05:47lunch immediately on Tuesday, and then I popped the other three in the fridge for
05:51lunch for the rest of the week.
05:55While I, of course, love being able to eat meals with Michael, the reality is that
06:00our schedules don't always align properly to allow for this. On Wednesday, knowing
06:04that Michael was gonna be out a little bit late for a business school
06:07presentation, I decided to try something new and to make an enchilada skillet dish,
06:12highly ambitious, a recipe from my friend Monique over at her blog,
06:16Ambitious Kitchen. Making dinner for one is a big feat. Not only do you have to come
06:21up with the idea of what you want to eat based on your own personal tastes, but you
06:25also have to do everything 100% on your own with zero kitchen assistance. To make
06:30things easiest for myself, I chose this one-pan recipe. And as an added bonus, this
06:35was a great opportunity to break in our new cast iron skillet from our wedding registry.
06:40First, I diced up the onion. I pressed the garlic in my fancy little garlic press, and
06:45then the jalapeno pepper, before preparing myself to tackle the butternut squash.
06:53Oh god, that's big.
06:57Cubing this butternut squash was a full ordeal.
07:01Let me tell you, it is not as easy as it seems. Either that, or I got a very unripe
07:07squash.
07:07But it was tough. Furthermore, my cutting board kept sliding around, so I had to put a towel
07:13beneath it to stabilize it for safety.
07:16I also cut the corn tortillas into strips to add in later.
07:21Once all the veggies were chopped, I sauteed the pepper, onion, and garlic until the onions
07:26looked translucent. Then I added in the squash to cook it a little longer, and I spiced it
07:32all up with chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Is it cumin or cumin? Once the squash
07:39was tender, I added in black beans, tortilla strips, a can of enchilada sauce, and a bit
07:45of cheese, and left that to simmer. And just before I popped it into the broiler for a few
07:49minutes, I sprinkled some more cheese on top. One thing I love about summer and early fall
07:54is that, especially if you're eating dinner on the earlier side, the sun is still up and
07:58it's still light outside. I don't love eating meals in the dark, so it's great to have the
08:02sun still shining at dinner time. I didn't feel like setting our dining room table for
08:07one, and the kitchen is actually the room in this apartment that gets the best light.
08:10So I just hopped up on the counter and enjoyed my solo meal there. Mmm!
08:15I would just like to point out that this recipe does actually make way more than one person
08:19can reasonably eat in one meal. So even though I was cooking just for myself, I did wind up
08:24giving my leftovers to Michael when he got home from his presentation.
08:29Cooking with a partner is the absolute best. It makes the process go by a lot quicker, plus
08:35you can have some fun together, or you can have deep and meaningful conversations along
08:39the way. On Thursday, we pulled out a recipe from my friend Liz Moody's book, Healthier
08:44Together. This book is all about cooking meals with the people that you love, and I don't love
08:48anyone more than Michael. Ready? Ready. Here's a recipe. We chose one of her most popular recipes
08:54in the book. Crispy orange chicken with lemon ginger broccoli rice. Liz told me that this
09:00dish tasted like Panda Express, and I was incredibly excited to make it because it was gluten-free,
09:05and Michael has a gluten allergy. Alright, so first step. You chop these.
09:09Okay. I'll peel this. Get ready for YouTube to tell you that you're holding a knife wrong.
09:13That's totally fine. Bring it on. We switched sides. Just chopping my ginge. We, like, are
09:22working so close together. I don't know if we're ever going to actually get to the chicken,
09:26but I'm having fun with all this. We're going to get there. We're on the way. Amazing work.
09:33Thank you. To make the orange sauce, we first combine the vegetable broth, rice vinegar, orange
09:39zest and juice, coconut sugar, ginger, garlic, tamari, and toasted sesame oil in a small saucepan,
09:46and once it was reduced by one quarter, we added the arrowroot powder, whisking until the sauce
09:51thickened. We set up a frying station next to the stove with a beaten egg in one bowl and some
09:56arrowroot
09:57powder in another. And I think we can move on to the chicken. Excuse me! We dipped the chicken
10:03in the egg and then dipped it in the arrowroot powder before adding it to a pan sizzling with
10:08coconut oil. And our entire apartment quickly started to smell amazing. Meanwhile, we put
10:14the broccoli in our blender to make broccoli rice. Oh, that looks so good. And next, we added
10:19in a lemon zest and juice. After that was done, we added the fried chicken and the orange sauce
10:25and coated the chicken completely. We added in the broccoli rice and salt and cooked until
10:30the broccoli had softened. We plated our dinners and devoured it immediately.
10:36All right, time to eat. Cheers. Moment of truth.
10:42Really good. Yeah, very good. I'm gonna eat this all right now.
10:46Cooking together is something that we don't do nearly enough, but we always say we're gonna
10:50do more of. I think that having this beautiful kitchen space and having all these helpful new
10:55kitchen appliances will definitely entice us to cook more, but if you've been wanting
10:59to cook more, the best thing you can do is just start cooking. Find a recipe online, buy
11:04the ingredients, and cook something for yourself tonight. Right now. This day. Aora. Stop
11:11making excuses and just get cooking.
11:16One of the other things that I've been really excited about since moving to this new apartment
11:20is hosting dinner parties here so that we can share this space with our friends. Even though
11:24we still don't have our couch yet, as you can see, it was a very memorable evening.
11:29On Friday, before the sun went down, I threw an early dinner party with some of my Refinery29
11:34colleagues. For this entire dinner party spread, I consulted Dada Eats. She's a food blogger
11:39and an influencer and an overall food goddess, so I knew that she would be the perfect person
11:44to give me recipes for everything from the charcuterie board, to the dinner entree, to the dessert.
11:49Because it's the most time consuming and I didn't want to get stressed at the very end,
11:54I started by making my cake first. I chose her chocolate chip tahini cake recipe. First,
12:00I combined the eggs and the tahini, along with the coconut sugar, almond milk, and vanilla extract.
12:08Then I mixed the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Almond flour, coconut flour, and baking soda.
12:15Okay. And I added the dry to the wet, stirring in the chocolate chips, and pouring it all into an
12:228-inch round pan. The recipe called for an 8-inch square pan, but if you watch my apartment search
12:27story video, you know that I hate squares and rectangles, so I went with a round pan. Also, I think
12:32that a round
12:33pan makes for more elegant cake slices. As the cake was baking in the oven, I got started on
12:37the frosting. The frosting was very simple with no dairy or oil, just cocoa powder, almond butter,
12:44maple syrup, and a bit of almond milk. I ended up slightly improvising the measurements because
12:48it didn't look like enough frosting for my entire cake. It probably would have been enough if I just
12:53wanted to frost the top of the cake, but I wanted to frost the top and the sides, and I
12:58wanted it to be
12:58extra thick. So I just dumped more cocoa powder, more almond butter, more maple syrup, mixed and
13:04mixed and mixed, and I wound up with a giant bowl of frosting. As the cake was cooling, I began
13:09making
13:09her avocado cream pasta recipe. First, I sliced some cherry tomatoes lengthwise, spread them out on a
13:16baking tray face up, drizzled them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and popped them in the oven. Then I
13:22made
13:22the avocado sauce. In my blender, I mixed avocados, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and basil. I had no idea
13:30what this would taste like, but I took one lick and I was in avocado basil heaven. Everyone, please.
13:37Oh my god. Seriously, it was unbelievable. If you like avocados or basil or the taste of pesto, you have
13:44to try
13:44this recipe. Next, I cooked the pasta, and her recipe called for the wheel-shaped pasta, which is the perfect
13:50call
13:50for this dish because the avocado cream gets kind of stuck in the spokes. I combined the noodles with
13:56the sauce, the roasted tomatoes, and fresh arugula. Then I garnished it all with some fresh basil and
14:02seasoning. Simple, beautiful, and delicious. Lastly, I set to work on building a charcuterie board. I displayed
14:10the brie and white cheddar on my stunning new stone cheese board, and then I added some prosciutto, salami
14:16rolls with a bit of extra mozzarella from my fridge, crackers, and grapes. It was a total beauty. When my
14:23guests first came over, we started by devouring the charcuterie board. Then I set the table for some
14:30people's pasta dish while the others sat on throw pillows by the coffee table. And for dessert, we all
14:36gathered cozily on the floor, and I cut the tahini cake for us all. It was so delicious, and I
14:41think the
14:41dinner was a big hit. I hope you liked getting a glimpse into life inside our new apartment and
14:46our new kitchen in particular. As always, thank you for coming back to another episode of Try Living
14:51with Lucy, and we'll see you right here next time on Refinery29. Bye!